Gas generator



P. DORSEY. u

GAS GENERATOR.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 23, 191'8.

2y 3 8 n Patented July 18, 1922.

WATER LEVEL www,

NETE@ FARMER, DRSEY, OF WICHITA', KANSAS,

WELDING AND CUTTING COMPANY, TION 0F MISSOURI.

ASSIGNOR T HENDERSON -WILLS OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOUR, A CGI-LEGRA- GfASGENERATQR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

rateatea .any is, tasa.

Application filed November 23, 1918. Serial No. 263,9.

To all whom t may conce/1W:

Be it known that I, FARMER Doneer, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city of Wichita, in the county of Sedgwick and State ofKansas, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Gras Generators,

of which the following is a specification.

his invention relates more particularly to acetylene or other like gasgenerators. It has for its objects to provide a simple and eilicientdevice for feeding the carbide or equivalent gas-producing constituentor substance to the generator, which is automatic in action andcontrolled by the pressure in the generator, whereby to maintain aworking supply of gas at a pressure above a certain predeterminedminimum; and to attain certain advantages as will hereinafter more fullyappear.

The invention consists in the parts and in the combinations andarrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

The accompanying drawing illustrates a vertical section of the upperportion of an ordinary acetylene gas generator tank as equipped for apractical application of the present invention.

In said drawing, the numeral 1 designates the generator tank, suspendedin the upper portion of which, from the head2, is a hopper 3 in whichthe carbide or equ1valent substance is placed in the heretoforecustomary conditionand manner, but delivered therefrom according to thepresent invention. It may be here st'ated that all other component partsor appliancesof the lgenerator not concerned directly in this inventionare omitted from the drawing, asjthe same may be of any desired orcustomary construction and arrangement.

As shown, the upper portion of the hopper 3 is generally cylindrical,whlle the lower portion is frusto-conical, as a 45, and provided with adepending outlet portion or restricted spout 5. Just above the outlet 1sa conoidal baille or deiiector 6 whlch 1s supported in spaced relationto thetapered bottom wall of the hopper by spider arms 7.v This bailleaffords a support for themass of carbide in the hopper and preventschoking of the outlet, as only a limited quantity of the carbide at atime passes through the annular space between the margin of the bae andthe shell of the hopper.

Cooperating with the end of the spout 5 1s Y certain pressure, the

a valve `8 comprising a plate having its 0pposite end portions flanged,as at 9, and riveted to the side walls 10 of'a dumping box or receptacle11. hingedly supported on a transverse rod 12 whlch extends through ears13 on the spout 5. Extending from one of the side walls 10 of thereceptacle is a lever arm 14 having a weight 15 which is preferablyadjustable thereon and proportioned so as to yieldably hold the valve 8in closed position with the weight of the carbide in the spout thereon.

Preferably, though not necessarily so, the end of the spout 5 isbevelled, as shown, so that the valve 8 is correspondingly inclined whenin closed position, but, in any case, whether the valve be normallyhorizontal or inclined in its closed position, the bottom wall of thedumping box or receptacle 11 must be at a relatively steep inclination,so that any loose substance thereon will slide readily therefrom.

Secured to the end wall of the. dumping box is a bucket or receptacle 16for the reception of water or other suitable liquid, as will bepresently described; said bucket-being of such capacity as to receive asufficient As shown, this device is quantity of the liquid tooverbalance the,`

weight 15 and thereby tilt the box 11 and open thevvalve 8 to releasethe carbide from the spout 5.

Extendin through the head 2 of the tank 1 is a tube 1t, the inner end ofwhich reaches in proximity to, and directly above, the bucket 16, whileits outer end portion is flared, as at 18, and has an -open housing orsupporting frame 19 secured thereon with a diaphragm 2O between. Thediaphragm carries a rod or stem 21 which extends downward, through thetube 17 and has a valve member 22 at its end to engage a suitable seat23 provided therefor at the corresponding end of the tube, said valvebeing seated when the tank l is charged with gas to a pressure actingupon both the diaphragm and valve, as will presently more fully appear,`and against the pressure of a spring 24 which is opposed to thediaphragm in the housing or supporting frame 19 and regulated by themanipulation of an adjusting screw 25.

Connecting the tube 17 with the bottom of a tank 26 containing water orother suitable liquid, is a pipe 27 having a cut-oil valve 28; whileanother pipe 29 is provided to aiord bucket 16, as

communication between the top of said tank 26 and the top of thegenerator tank 1, so as to equalize the pressure in the two tanks.

A suitable device is preferably provided to manually actuate the dumpingbox 11, either to initially charge the generator or to loosen said boxin case it should happen to stick during the automatic operationthereof, as will be presently described. As shown, it comprises a rod30, having a handle 31 on its outer end and slidably fitted through astuffing box 32 on the head 2, and extended through an aperture 33 inthe tapered botlrom portion 4 of the hopper as a guide, its inner endportion being formed with an offset 34 or otherwise provided to affordtwo opposed shoulders 35, 36, to engage the lever arm 14 on oppositesides when the rod is moved endwise in either direction, said shoulders35, 36, being obviously spaced apart sufliciently to permit the leverarm 14 to move freely between them during the automatic operation of thedumping box 11.

1n the operation of the generator according to the present invention,the spring 24 is adjusted at the start to resist the desired minimumpressure to be raised in the tank 1, and the valve 22 is thereby opened.

The initial charge ot carbide may be delivered from the spout 5 of thehopper either by operating the rod 30 manually or opening the cut-offvalve 28 in the pipe 27 which connects the water supply tank 26 and thetube 17. `T he dumping box 11 will be first tilted to the position shownin broken lines either by lift-ing the rod 30 or the filling of the thecase may be, so that the carbide released during the opening of thevalve 8 thereby, will fall into the box. In this position of the box 11,it is noted that its bottom wall is substantially horizontal or inclinedslightly downward towards the end wall, so that the carbide remainstherein until the box is brought back to original or dumping positionshown in full lines, at which time the charge is dumped into the body ofwater or liquid in the tank 1 and where it is decomposed and serves itsJfunction in the generation of the gas as is well known in this art.

The return of the dumping box 1l to original or dumping position isaccomplished by forcing the rod 30 downward, in the case of manualoperation, or by the weight 15, when the liquid from the tank 26 is usedin the bucket 16, and discharged therefrom.

This charging operation is continued until the pressure of the gasgenerated in the tank 1, acting upon the diaphra m 20, overpowers thespring 24 and closes tile valve 22, after which the operation of thegenerator is automatic, for as soon as the pressure in the tank 1 fallsbelow that of the spring 24, the valve 22 is again opened, therebyadmitting the water to the bucket 16; andthe operai ,eaaees tion of thedumping box 11 is carried on to deliver the carbide from the hopperuntil the pressure is raised sufficiently to close the valve 22. c

The operation of the dumping box 11 1s relatively quick. oThat is, theinstant the bucket 16 is Weighted by the water therein sufficiently toovercome the weight 15, the box 11 drops suddenly to the position shownby'the broken lines, and as the water is almost immediately dischargedfrom the bucket, the return movement of the box is just as quicklybrought about by the weight 15. Consequently, there is no undue waste ofthe water from the tank 26, and the respective charges of carbide are ofregular uniformity in measure.

Should the dumping box 11 accidentally stick during its operation, therod 30 can be manipulated to loosen or move it to receivin or dumpingposition, as t'he case may be.

lVhen the generator is not in use, the cut- 0H valve 28 is closed; andto prevent the operation of the dumping box 11 and consequent generationof gas in the tank 1 at this time, in case there should be any leakagethrough the valve 22, an aperture 37 may be provided in the bucket 16 ofsuflicient capacity to drain off such leakage falling into the bucket,and yet permit the bucket to fill when the valve 22 is opened to supplythe full working volume of the water during the operation of thegenerator.

Obviously, the structure admits of considerable modification withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention as defined by the appendedclaims. Therefore, it is not limited to that shown in the drawing.

That is claimed is:

1. In a gas Generator of the character described, a tank, a feed hoppertherefor, a dumping charge-delivering device cooperating with the outletof said hopper, said de vice haring a self-discharging bucket or' afilling capacity to overbalance and actuate the device to deliver thecharge from the hopper, and automatically operative means, controlled bythe pressure of the gas generated in said tank, for supplying a liquidto said bucket, said liquid-supplying means being maintained normallyinactive under a predetermined pressure and becoming active only whenthe pressure decreases.

2. 1n a gas generator of the character described, a tank, a feed hoppertherefor, a combined dumping` receptacle and valve mounted hingedly incooperative relation to the outlet of said hopper, aweighted arm on saidreceptacle' yieldably holding the latter normally in dischargingposition with the valve in closing relation to the hopper outlet, abucket on said dumping receptacle in counter relation to and normallyoutweighed by said weighted arm` but. being of a filling capacity tooutweigh the latter,

and automatically operative means, controlled by the pressure of the gasgenerated in said tank, for supplying a liquid to said bucket, saidliquid-supplylng means being maintained normally inactive under apredetermined ressure and becoming active only when t e pressuredecreases, whereby said valve is moved to open position, -saidreceptacle to receiving position for the charge as released from thehopper by said valve, and said bucket to discharging position.

3. In a gas generator of the character described, a tank, a feed hopperthere-for, a charge-delivering device including a valve controlling theoutlet of said hopper, a dumping receptacle in correlation to andoperating with said valve to receive the charge therefrom, said valvebeing normally in closing relation to the hopper outlet and said dumpingreceptacle in dlschargin position, and means for actuating said va ve toopen position and said dumping receptacle to receiving position for thecharge as released from said hopper by the valve, said means comprisinga normally empty, selfdischarging bucket carried by said dumpingreceptacle, and spring-actuated means, controlled by the pressure of thegas nerated in said tank, for supplying a liquld to said bucket, saidsupply means being maintained normally inactive under 'a predeterminedpressure, whereby, when the pressure decreases, said liquid-supplyingmeans becomes active to lill said bucket to its operative capacity.

4. In a gas generator of the character described, a tank comprising thegenerator proper, a tank containing a liquid, a pressure-equalizingconnection between said two tanks, a liquid conducting pipe extendinginto said first mentioned tank and communicating with the bottom of saidsecond mentioned tank, a pressure-regulated valve for said conductingpipe controlled by the pressure of the gas generated'in said first vmentioned tank, and a charge-deliverlng device in said first mentionedtank, the same comprising a bucket in receiving relation to saidconducting capacity to over-balance and actuate said charge-deliveringdevice to deliver the charge.

5. In a gas generator of the characterdepipe and being of a fillingtuating said device, said means comprising a liquld-receiving weight,and meansl for supplying liquid to said weight, sald means beingcontrolled by the pressure of the gas generated in the generator, so asto be malntained normally inactive under a predetermined pressure andbecome automatically active .when the pressure decreases so as to rendersaid weight effective to overbalance said charge-delivering device, andmechanical means for manually operating said charge-delivering device,sald last mentioned means having provision for detachable engagementwith said charge-deliverin device in its o eration and permitting inependent actuation of the latter in its neutral position. y

6. In a as generator of the character described, a eed hopper, and acharge-delivering device cooperating with the outlet of sald hopper,said device comprising a horizontally hinged box having aniopen end,'.atransverse valve plate spaced from the bottom and end wall thereof, anda bucket extendin from its end wall, said box having a weigt forbalancing it with its bottom inclined downward with respect to its openv and become automatically active when the pressure decreases so as tosupply the liquid to sald bucket to overbalance said chargedeliveringdevice to receive the charge from the hopper as released by said valve'plate.

7. In a gas generator of the character described, and according to claim1, the bucket therein an operative accumulation of v the liquid thereinin a supply-less than the normal minimum working volume. In testimonywhereof, I have hereunto'set my hand, this' 1st day of November, 1918,at St. Louis, Missouri.

PARMER DORSEY.

described having a drain to prevent

